Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of it's wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. Every crazy, weird and wacky quote is straight from the pens of Armstrongite leaders or members who think they possess some insight into God and the Bible. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before!

Thursday, May 15, 2014

How to Trick the Public Into Giving Money to Your Cult

These days, because of the increasing cost of media, it
is ever more difficult for the Church to fund its warning message. In order to
reach all nations it is absolutely necessary to boost resources, considering
that contributions from members and co-workers seem to have leveled off.

The good news is that it is possible, with creative
presentation and promotion skills, to funnel contributions from outsiders who
do not actually intend to donate to the Church. One such method that has proven
effective is to conduct a charity 5K run which offers prizes, fun and an outlet
for those members of the uncalled public to satisfy their desires to contribute
to a “charity.” This is where zealous members can secure not only their
excellent standing with the Church, but certainly a higher position in the
Kingdom. And eventually the individuals who contribute will someday see
that their money was given to the greatest cause on Earth!

In order to conduct a charitable 5K run which will
maximize income for the Church, there are some general principles and
guidelines which are important to follow:

·Remember that the audience consists primarily of carnal human beings who
are not being called and who really do not wish to support God’s Work. Keeping
this principle constantly in mind will help you craft marketing material that
points away from any direct mention of the Church and any of its resources such
as websites and literature. Remember – this fund raising effort is targeted at
those who would not otherwise directly donate to the Church. Such an audience
would actually tend to be less interested in the activity if they felt that you
were pushing the Church on them. So, it’s best to leave the evangelistic
efforts to the ordained ministry, and let your light shine through your
example.

·While disclosure regulations require that you mention to which “charity”
proceeds will be donated, it is not necessary to mention the parent organization.
This means that you can simply mention one of the Church’s programs, such as a
youth program, or a performance arts program. Historically, the youth program
approach has been the most profitable because even uncalled people like to feel
that they are doing something to help children.

·Focus on the “get.” Even though it is necessary to have a “charity”
which the participants of the event will be supporting, the real draw should be
the fun, food and prizes. This means that the disclosure about the “charity”
should be minimal and tucked away deep inside the information pages of your
marketing material. What you are trying to do is appeal to the participants’
vanity, appetites, and desire to win, while at the same time making them feel
good about themselves for supporting the “charity.” In reality, all it takes to
make them feel good like this is to simply mention that they are supporting a
good cause like children, or arts. Of course if anyone wants to know about who
they are supporting you must have the disclosure located somewhere in your
material, but the vast majority of participants will not bother with digging
any deeper than the material you provide. REMEMBER: Maximize the get!

·Always avoid any mention or hint that the “charity” only supports the
members and efforts of the Church, especially when it comes to children. Again,
all that is needed to make the public feel good about donating is to mention
the name of the Church’s youth program (without mentioning the Church’s name).
The vast majority of the public will not even think to ask if the youth program
only benefits a small exclusive segment of children – they will assume all
children are welcome, especially disadvantaged children. Eventually when these
people are raised in the Great White Throne Judgment, they will at that time
realize that they were actually being used as tools to help bring joy to the
godly offspring of the elect!

·When dealing with the unconverted, it is okay to present material in a
way that could be mis-characterized as deceptive. Jesus set the precedent for
this by speaking in parables that were intended to deflect understanding of the
truth from the minds of the unconverted. "To you it has been given to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in
parables, that `Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.'
(Luke 8:10)

·To present the appearance of a valid charitable cause, consider having a
separate 5K run that benefits a real charity. This way you can mention the
charity more predominantly for that run, which will boost your credibility and
reduce questions for the 5K that benefits the church.

You’ll notice right away how appealing the visuals are on
this website. There is not only food, but ICE CREAM! And there are a multitude
of prize categories, again appealing to the vanity of your participants. When
you find the page Race Info, you can scroll to the bottom and read the
well-done “charity” disclosure. Here it is:

Charity

“Out of the proceeds, Stinky Feet Running Company will
make a donation to benefit Living Youth Programs. Living Youth Programs, its
affiliated youth camps for teens and preteens, and other activities form a part
of its effort to provide great opportunities to create lasting friendships
and unforgettable memories. The camps consist of classes and programs designed
to expose teens and preteens to activities they may not normally experience and
empower them to grow to lead responsible and healthy lives.

Right away you will notice that the above disclosure has
all the great wording that is needed to deflect attention away from the fact
that the money will be given to the Church! There is no need to mention that
Living Youth Programs is merely an office of the Living Church of God.
Also notice how it appears that “Living Youth Programs” seems like a name of an
entire organization while not actually stating so. The statement also
wisely and carefully plays up the wonderful benefits to “youth,” “preteens,”
and “teens.” These statements are technically accurate, and it is not your
fault if the public ASSUMES that the children in the world are excluded, and
the only beneficiaries of the youth programs are children of Church members.

The members who coordinate the above 5K run have very
wisely coordinated another 5K run that benefits a real charity. Here it is:

A key
difference here is that there are no problems with letting people know they can
donate directly to the charitable cause if they want – a link is even provided.
Of course, this must not be done when the primary “charity” is the Church, as
you will notice there is no link in the first disclosure for the Church or even
any encouragement to donate directly to is as this could unnecessarily detract
from participation.

Above all, show them that you care! In our world,
intentions are everything. This is why wearing colored ribbons and bumper
stickers are so popular. The more you care the less people will ask difficult
questions. Here
is a great example from a member in very good standing, of letting everyone
know they care.

Free comp drinks to high rollers, and perhaps have the machines have prophecy or COG themes, like 777 jackpots, "King of the North", or "Apocalypse Now" themes and the like. All games would have regular Las Vegas odds, which of course favor the house.

It would be a lot more fun way to give the tithe. They would end up with it anyway, but there would always be that secret hope that maybe you could win a new car, or hit the progressive slot, or keep doubling down and win millions with hitting the point 10 times in a row. Having a sports book for various ballgames would also be fun.

Evenings could be used to book concerts from the likes of Tom Jones, Wayne Newton, or Tina Turner for $200 a seat. Forget the Vienna Boys Choir, or Pavariotti! Give the people what they want!

I suggest that these COG leaders watch the movie "Casino" and just quit messing around and begin cute about the money thing. Have an Indian Tribe sponsor your church and just be up front about the fact that it is a money making venture. Use a portion of the proceeds for a few good works, draw a handsome salary, and at least let the people have fun while losing their money to you!

First of all, I never understood how the co-worker thing worked in the first place. How did Pervert convince non-practicing "unconverted" outsiders to send him money every month (co-workers) to publish and broadcast the fearmongering message that all non-practicing "unconverted" outsiders (including co-workers) were going to suffer and die in "the tribulation" unless they became practicing "converted" insiders (which apparently was a bridge too far for the average co-worker)? To me, it seems analogous to the KKK successfully soliciting donations from African-Americans.

Niccolò Machiavelli (a man who stood for everything Pervert Armstrong's church ever stood for and his splintered legacy still proudly stands for today) would be proud of these "survival of the fittest" tactics. Cynical, calculating, exploitive, deceptive, treacherous, cunning, and totally unscrupulous. Everything the god they worship looks for in his called, elected, and chosen ones, apparently.

But be careful, the control of information is crucial. Lose control of the information, and you lose everything. Ol' Niccolò himself ultimately lost control of the information, and it cost him his life. Machiavelli may have got there first, but Pervert, I'm sure, could have taught Machiavelli a few things about his own tradecraft. Yes, you're exploiting opportunities that might elude those of lesser "brilliance" or tolerance for risk, but you're also playing with a double-edged sword.

One thing you could have made more clear is that, not only are these donations not going to benefit youth in general, but only church youth (potentially), but that the money is unlikely to directly benefit them either. It's probably just going to be thrown into the general operating fund. The COGs have a bad reputation (among those who are concerned) that donor earmarking of funds is not respected by COGs after the check is cashed. Because of the strange way cult indoctrination works, those who are giving the money rarely are concerned by reports that the people they're giving it to (I'm giving it to god, aren't I? No, Virginia, you're not!) aren't respecting their wishes as to how their money is allocated.

Disingenuous, yes. But, hardly shocking. This comes from a relgious movenent that is based on deception.

I was watching a PBS program the other night, and a very notable statement was made to the effect that scientists are generally extremely happy to be proven wrong, because it means that they are that much closer to truth. This is a statement that never could be made of Armstrongists. Imagine, "When the human genome was mapped, Armstrongites were very happy to be proven wrong about British Israelism, because it means that they are now that much closer to the truth."

Another tactic, used by the packman, is to get a local reporter to tell part of the truth in the Akron Beacon Journal so that the public thinks that the RCG is a sure enough legitimate 501c non-prophet organization. I wonder if Dave has donated to any local charities to actually help his surrounding community? I think that Dave's donations are limited to his family and group of 16, and then only to the extent that they do and say what he tells them to. I like Connie's idea, the RCG compound would make a great Casino in the future; when Dave goes broke and looses it to the bank/s (from whom he did not need money when they first turned him down but from whom he did in fact borrow from when it became obvious that his multi-million dollar cult compound could not be completed with tithe money only).

Dave will say anything to get the bucks. It is always interesting to see what comes out of his mouth next. You ever notice how someone who accuses others of being corrupt or deceitful is usually guilty of same? I guess that their mind is so full of the ways to trick people that they assume everyone is the same as they are.

Dave is known to scoff and mock "outsiders" when he stands so grandly in from of his brainwashed flock, then when in the public eye, he tones it down and certainly expects his group to not repeat what he says in the confines of his exclusive cult meetings. What is he hiding? Why all of the secrecy? I suspect it is because he knows that he would be revealed as a kook if everyone really knew what was going on inside of his demented mind.

But just wait till Christ shows up in a clap of thunder and a blast from some trumpet; and when Dave is named as the only true leader of gods only real church on earth; then Dave will be revealed as the ONE. As if. Don't hold your breath Dave. Probably the best thing he could do is shut his mouth and wait for the second coming. But in the mean time he needs lots and lots of money, so why not do and say what ever he needs to so that he can get the dollars. What a conflicted mind; proclaiming to be the one yet struggling for the filthy lucre.

So screwed up! And probably must know it, but continues the scam. And in the mean time, harming family relationships, being a bully, and just plain wrong.